Sure, they'd be winners, but some prizes—like the largest jackpot
in the game's history—are better kept to yourself.

To lower the odds of this happening, we tapped Duke University
professor of public policy Philip Cook for pointers.

"You don't want to bet a combination of numbers that is likely to
be bet by other people," he says. "The idea is to win with an
unusual combination."

There are two ways to bet against the grain: Do your homework and
look for regularities in betting patterns, or resist temptation
by not picking whatever numbers occur to you. Let's take a closer
look at option 2.

"Most people tend to choose their own numbers, rather than use
the Quick Pick, and they'll tend to use numbers that are familiar
to them," says Cook, noting birthdays are popular. "These tend to
be lower numbers that are below 25 or 30. The higher end of the
range (per Mega Millions, you choose 5 different numbers 1-56,
then an Easy Pick from 1-46) is included less often."